“Even the disdain and rejection from those people just now, it’s also your own self-disgust.”
“Do you know what I see in your eyes?”
Miu Miu looked panicked and asked softly, “What do you see?”
“I see a struggling young soul, a soul that has been divided into two parts. One part despises itself and even wants to die, but the other, more fragile half is silently crying for help, hoping that someone can save it.”
“Why do you hate yourself so much? Is it because you feel responsible for your mother’s death?”
“Mother’s death?” Miu Miu looked up in confusion, and the blurry images she saw just now entered her mind again, causing her head to throb violently.
“Mother, it’s all my fault. If it weren’t for Miu Miu, Mom wouldn’t have…” Miu Miu covered her head, her expression full of pain.
Bai Lixin looked at the child in front of her and noticed some changes in her.
Her skin started emitting a faint smoke, and the smell of seawater, rust, blood, and disinfectant became stronger.
The fair skin turned red, and the smell grew more intense.
The dragon shook his body, and Dijia’s voice came to his ears: [What’s going on? Did my baby miss me so much that he’s burning with passion?]
“…” Bai Lixin immediately rolled his eyes. What kind of brain damage could make one think such nonsense?
“Miu Miu, are you okay?” Bai Lixin reached out and placed his hand on the child’s shoulder, calling her name. “Miu Miu, can you still hear my voice?”
The next moment, the child suddenly looked up, and golden light shot out from her mouth, eyes, and nose.
The golden light instantly enveloped Bai Lixin, and Bai Lixin’s consciousness went in a trance.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a hospital.
The surroundings were monochrome, with walls, ceiling, bed, and sheets all in the same color.
In the middle was a hospital bed, and on the bed lay a person with a thick cloth covering their head, obscuring the face.
A simple cloth indicated the condition of the person lying on the bed.
—Dead.
People had gathered around the hospital bed, young and old, men and women.
Bai Lixin could see them, but it seemed like they couldn’t see Bai Lixin at all.
Bai Lixin scanned the people crying by the bed one by one and recognized many familiar faces.
The man with a big beard played the role of the pirate in the fairy tale world.
The handsome man played prince Mia..
The plump middle-aged men played the role of the tavern boss.
They stood around the bed, expressing their condolences.
“So young, it’s such a pity.”
“Sigh, the heavens are jealous of talent. The general manager is only 30 years old this year, and we were counting on her to lead us to achieve more glory.”
“What’s the point of saying these things when the person is already gone? Let’s grieve and accept the change.”
“It could have been avoided. If Miu Miu didn’t insist on going on the boat with her mother, none of this would have happened.”
“Ah, no one wanted this to happen. No one could have predicted it would turn out like this.”
“If Miu Miu had been more sensible and not insisted on her mother taking her on the boat, her mother wouldn’t have drowned.”
“Sigh…they say children are enemies from past lives, coming to collect debts from their parents in this life.”
“Don’t say that. Miu Miu didn’t want this either.”
“Her mother couldn’t swim, but she struggled to bring Miu Miu to the shore. If it wasn’t for saving Miu Miu, maybe her mother could have survived.”
“So are you saying you would let Miu Miu die in exchange for her mother’s life?”
“Why not? More children can be born, but once a life is gone, it’s gone!”
A 5-6 year old child with bandages on her head cautiously peeked out from the door of the distant hospital room. Her large eyes were filled with fear and terror, and she was holding a plush rabbit in her arms as she looked inside blankly.
The man lying on the innermost hospital bed saw the child and suddenly shouted, “Enough! If you shareholders want to argue, go back to your office and don’t disturb my wife!”
The others also noticed the child’s presence, and the voices instantly stopped.
The child didn’t know what had happened, and she had bruises on her face and arms. She walked forward with red eyes.
The man in the innermost bed quickly came over and gently patted the child’s head, “Miu Miu, what’s wrong? Why are you here? Didn’t I ask the nurse auntie to take care of you and let you rest?”
“Father,” Miu Miu’s voice was choked with tears, “Where’s Mother?”
There was silence in the room.
Everyone looked at each other, at a loss.
The man sighed, “Miu Miu, do you remember the fairy tale I told you about the mermaid?”
Miu Miu blinked her eyes and nodded seriously.
The man continued, “I didn’t tell you that Mother is also a mermaid. Just yesterday, she missed the sea so much after returning to the water, so she turned back into a mermaid and went back to the sea.”
Five-year-old Miu Miu didn’t understand everything, but she understood one sentence, “Went back to the sea.”
Tears instantly filled her eyes, and Miu Miu wanted to cry but she held back, her face wrinkled in a pitiful and sad manner, making everyone present’s hearts ache. “Mother… went back to the sea, and she’s not coming back, right?”
“Does she not want Miu Miu anymore?”
The man quickly reassured. “Of course she still wants to be Miu Miu. She just went to the sea to take a look. Mother will come back when you grow up.”
Miu Miu suddenly grabbed the man’s finger tightly. “Father, as long as Mother is okay, sje will definitely come back to find Miu Miu, right?”
The man’s eyes also began to turn red. “Yes, Mother will come back. I still have some things to do here. Why don’t you go back with the nurse auntie first?”
Before leaving, Miu Miu glanced back at the hospital bed, and then was led away by the nurse, with Bai Lixin following closely behind. As soon as they left the ward, the scene in front of Bai Li Xin suddenly changed.
Instead of a corridor, he was now in a cozy children’s room.
In front of the table in the children’s room were two people sitting side by side, one large and one small. The larger one was the man from earlier, and the smaller one was Miu Miu who had grown up a bit.
There was a piece of paper spread out in front of Miu Miu, and she was holding a crayon in her hand. “Father, what does the mermaid mother look like?”
The man propped his head up, his eyes glued to his phone, and answered absentmindedly, “Um, golden tail.”
Miu Miu took out a crayon of golden color from the box. “And then? What color is her hair? What color are her eyes?”
The man continued to type on his phone, answering casually, “Black hair, green eyes.”
Miu Miu quickly took out a black crayon and a green crayon from the box. She propped her cheek with her hand and pondered for a few seconds. “Is Mother’s hair long or short? Is it curly or straight, Father?”
The man was getting impatient. “Yes, it’s black and curly.”
The phone suddenly rang, and he looked at the caller ID and his expression instantly changed. He quickly answered the phone, “Hello, where are you? Do you want me to send a driver to pick you up?”
A clear voice came from the other end of the phone: “No need, I’ll drive myself. I’ll be there soon. Can you come out and meet me? I’m afraid of the dark.”
Man: “Okay, I’ll come out now.”
Miu Miu watched the man preparing to leave and bit her lip. “Father, aren’t you going to paint with me?”
Man: “Miu Miu, you’re such a sensible girl. I’m just going to pick up Aunt Wang, she’s afraid of the dark.”
Miu Miu’s eyes flickered with disappointment. “But Miu Miu is also afraid of the dark.”
The man absentmindedly patted Miu Miu’s head and handed her a mermaid doll. “Miu Miu, don’t be afraid. Have you forgotten? Mother is a mermaid, and she will be with you when I’m not around.”
Although Miu Miu was very reluctant, the man still walked out of the room, leaving Miu Miu alone in the room.
Miu Miu felt uneasy as she lowered her head and hugged the mermaid doll in her arms for a while, then she slowly walked to the table and started drawing on the paper.
She drew very slowly, with a serious and devout expression. Although her hands were awkward, every stroke was meticulous.
Before long, laughter came from outside the room.
The voices of the conversation came from a man and a woman, but Miu Miu couldn’t hear them clearly because they were in another room.
Miu Miu heard the voices and quietly opened the door to peek out. Bai Lixin also looked through the door frame and saw the woman’s face in the hallway.
It was quite familiar, the face Mrs Xihai, the stepmother.
The woman was laughing and talking with the man, but when she heard the sound, she turned her head and her smile instantly froze. She still had a smile on her lips, but there was no smile in her eyes.
Miu Miu was startled and quickly closed the door.
In that moment, Bai Lixin slipped out.
Originally, this was Miu Miu’s point of view, and she couldn’t hear or see what Bai Lixin saw when he left the room. But this world was obviously a bit more advanced. Even though Miu Miu closed the door, Bai Lixin could still clearly see the unfolding scene after he left the room.
After seeing Miu Miu close the door, the man looked winked at the woman and pulled her into the neighboring room.
The two of them still couldn’t see Bai Lixin and went straight through Bai Lixin’s body.
Bai Lixin stood in place, as if watching an immersive movie.
Seeing the two enter the room, Bai Lixin silently followed. He was not hindered by the walls of the room and passed through directly.
Just as he passed through, he saw some indecent scenes.
What can a man and a woman do in the middle of the night?
The two embraced and kissed for a while, then the woman fell into the man’s arms, panting as she asked, “When are you going to marry me?”
The man was a bit hesitant and said, “Miu Miu’s mother only passed away two years ago, isn’t it too soon for me to marry you?”
“I’m telling you, you can wait, but our daughter can’t. She’s starting elementary school this year, and she came home crying today.”
The man was stunned and asked, ”Why was she crying?”
The woman said, “Others are calling her a fatherless wild child. Do you know that children’s psychology is the most vulnerable. She’s your daughter, you saw her being born with your own eyes, are you so heartless as to let her be looked down upon at school? And our other daughter should start kindergarten this year, but I don’t know what to fill in the father’s column.”
“I gave you two children out of wedlock, don’t you care about me, and don’t you care about your own children?”
The man was still hesitant, but the woman continued, “Don’t you want a son? I want to give you a son but you can’t let our daughters suffer, okay? Let’s take advantage our youth so our son can be of high quality.”
The man was finally persuaded a little bit: “I want a son who will inherit the family business.”
“Miu Miu’s mother was a workaholic. Ever since she had Miu Miu, she said she would never do it again. She wants our family to have no successors.”
Woman: “You are the most benevolent. I just saw Miu Miu, she is very beautiful. I like that child very much. When I get married, I will treat her like my own. Oh, just promise. I can wait but our son can’t!”
The man finally nodded and said, “Okay! I am willing to be madly in love with a beauty. For you, I don’t care what others say, let’s get married!”
The woman sighed and suddenly started crying, “Ten years, ten years, I secretly waited for you for ten years. Heaven has treated me well, I thought I would never have a chance in this lifetime, but I didn’t expect that person to die of exhaustion. Even heaven couldn’t bear to watch it, we are destined to be together.”
The man didn’t say anything, but from his expression, he was also deeply moved.
Bai Lixin couldn’t bear to listen any longer, turned around and left, returning to Miu Miu’s room.
Miu Miu had finished drawing the mermaid, she carefully admired it for a moment, then carefully folded it and held it in her hand as she opened the door.
Bai Lixin followed closely behind, and as soon as he stepped out of the room with her, the scene suddenly changed again.
They were now at a school.
Miu Miu had grown up a bit, looking like she was seven or eight years old, similar to the age of the Miu Miu he had seen before.
The current Miu Miu swung her school bag and smashed it at several tall students in front of her, saying, “Give me back my drawing!”
Those boys, dressed like ruffians, were tall, and one of them held up the paper in his hand, teasing Miu Miu, “If you want it, come and get it yourself.”
Miu Miu went on tiptoe but still couldn’t reach the painting. Her cheeks puffed up, her eyes slightly red, but she didn’t cry. Instead, she scratched at the boy in front of her like a little cat.
The boy winced and pushed Miu Miu away.
Bai Lixin saw this and wanted to help Miu Miu, but his fingers touched her arm and passed right through.
Miu Miu fell straight to the ground and toppled over several times.
Her head hit the ground and skin broke.
The boys laughed mockingly when they saw Miu Miu’s miserable appearance. Just as Miu Miu was about to cry, the boy threw the paper in his hand at her and said, “Here, freak.”
Miu Miu picked up the paper and glared at him, saying, “I’m not a freak!”
The boy taunted, “You are a freak. Who plays with you at school?”
“You’re crazy, your mom died and you think she turned into a mermaid. It’s hilarious.”
“My mom didn’t die!” Miu Miu’s eyes suddenly became terrifying as she stared at the boy, “I’ve never said my mom is a mermaid at school. Who told you? Who spread this?”
The boy hesitated for a moment, “Does anyone need to tell us? The whole school knows.”
Miu Miu’s face grew darker, and she gritted her teeth as she said word by word, “So, who, is, spreading, it?!”
The boys were probably scared by Miu Miu’s expression, and they all stopped laughing. The boy who was leading them grew impatient and said, “Who has time to investigate this? You’re just a freak, it’s ridiculous. Let’s go.”
Bai Lixin stood in place, looked at the injured Miu Miu, then at the boys walking away, and finally followed behind the boys.
The boys walked through a few corners and finally stopped at a place.
In that corner stood a student. Bai Lixin took a glance and found the student very familiar, he had the same face as Mrs. Xihai so he was probably her son.
The boy took out the wallet from his school bag and generously pulled out several hundred yuan bills to hand to them, saying, “You’ve worked hard.”
“Wow, you really have money.” The boys took the money and whistled.
The boy sneered, “It’s my father’s money.”
